Pope John Paul, who celebrated his eighty-first birthday this week, is a man in a hurry. In the twilight days of his long papacy, he is expanding the perspective of his by now traditional pastoral visits around the world and he is laying down markers for the future. These concern the future relations of the Roman Catholic Church both with the separated Orthodox Christian Churches, and with the other monotheistic religions, Islam and Judaism.
Hence the first-ever visit this month by a pope to a mosque, the impressive Great Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. Twenty years ago it would have been inconceivable that a pope from Rome should remove his shoes, put on white slippers and traverse one of the great Holy Places of Islam for a meeting with the Grand Mufti and other clerics in the courtyard of the mosque. … Read more »… À suivre »
On Monday 29 March I left Glasgow for the third Building Bridges seminar convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury and hosted by John J. DeGioia, president of Georgetown University in Washington. A few days earlier, the former Archbishop George Carey, the man responsible for hosting the first of these seminars at Lambeth Palace in 2002, had made front-page headlines after delivering a public lecture in which Islam and Muslims had come under severe criticism over a variety of political and theological issues. “It is sad to relate”, he said, “that no great invention has come for many hundred years from Muslim countries.” “During the past 500 hundred years,” he continued, “critical scholarship [in theology] has declined, leading to strong resistance to modernity.” Dr Carey added that moderate Muslims must “express strongly on behalf of the many millions of their co-religionists, their abhorrence of violence done in the name of Allah.” Much to the dismay of many Muslims and non-Muslims, in subsequent interviews, Dr Carey remained steadfast that he had not meant to offend the Muslim community. … Read more »… À suivre »
The review, Oasis/al-Waha/Nakhlistan, was launched on 7 March 2005 to promote an open and respectful dialogue with Islam, and to support Christian minorities in predominantly Muslim countries. Initially, Oasis will be published twice a year. Edited by a committee of experts from around the world, it is published in four editions: English-Arabic, English-Urdu, French-Arabic and … Read more »… À suivre »
[Porto Alegré, Brazil • 14.02.2006] Christians and Muslims should work together to “put out the fire” caused by the controversial publication of cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed, according to Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, general secretary of the World Council of Churches. The publication of the cartoons, which first appeared last year in a Danish paper … Read more »… À suivre »
[Toronto • 17.2.2006] The United Church of Canada has sent a letter to the Islamic Council of Imams expressing the church’s “deepest regret that the name of Muhammad has been so tragically misused in the depictions of cartoons first published in Europe, but now also in Canada.” The letter strongly condemns the publication of the … Read more »… À suivre »
Prominent national Canadian Muslim organizations and umbrella groups have signed an unprecedented statement praising Canada’s collective response to the cartoon controversy, saying Canada has “made Canadian Muslims proud.” “Despite a few small occurrences, Canada’s collective response to this controversy has allowed us to overcome this crisis and strengthen our democracy,” says Dr. Tyseer Aboulnasr, a … Read more »… À suivre »
[Toronto • February 19, 2006] The Muslim Canadian Congress has condemned attacks on Churches in Pakistan and Nigeria that have led to the death of 15 Christians, including women and children. In an appeal to Muslims across the world, the Muslim Canadian Congress is urging them to resist the temptation of participating in public demonstrations … Read more »… À suivre »
West The South East Saskatoon Interchurch Group (SESIG) recently celebrated a fifteen-year anniversary in an interdenominational service that included readings, song and multimedia presentations. SESIG was formed in 1990 by five churches; it currently has eighteen member churches, including the Alliance, Orthodox, Pentecostal, Lutheran, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Mennonite, Baptist, United, Presbyterian, Christian Science Society and … Read more »… À suivre »
A prominent Italian newspaper editor has appealed to Muslims to visit Marian shrines in Italy. Reminding his readers that the Qu’ran devotes an entire sura to Mary, and that Muslims and Christians jointly venerate Marian shrines in Muslim countries, Magdi Allam is puzzled why more Muslims do not visit shrines in Christian countries. Allam, an … Read more »… À suivre »
C’est avec un sentiment de regret que le Centre a appris le départ de son directeur actuel, le Dr Stuart Brown et de son épouse, Margaret, à la fin de juin. Ils retourneront au Nigeria, en Afrique, où le Dr Brown s’est vu offrir une chaire au département d’études religieuses de l’université Abti à Yola. Margaret l’y accompagnera et occupera un poste au département des archives de la bibliothèque de l’université. … Read more »… À suivre »
The recent controversy over cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed has exposed a disagreement between Western secular democracies and the Muslim community over appropriate limits on public expression. Agreement on when or whether there should be limits on free speech remains elusive. Such an agreement appears to be developing between Anglicans and Muslims, at least if a report released today is accurate. In a dialogue meeting last week between delegates of the Anglican Communion and the Al-Azhar Al-Sharif Permanent Committee for Dialogue with Monotheistic Religions, the participants reportedly found consensus on the right to comprehensive religious freedom and on the related problem of limiting public expression. … Read more »… À suivre »
Open Letter to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI by 38 Leading Muslim Scholars and Leaders.
In an unprecedented move, an open letter signed by 38 leading Muslim religious scholars and leaders around the world was sent to Pope Benedict XVI on Oct. 12, 2006. The letter, which is the outcome of a joint effort, was signed by top religious authorities. All the eight schools of thought and jurisprudence in Islam are represented by the signatories, including a woman scholar. In this respect the letter is unique in the history of interfaith relations.
The letter was sent, in a spirit of goodwill, to respond to some of the remarks made by the Pope during his lecture at the University of Regensburg on Sept. 12, 2006. The letter tackles the main substantive issues raised in his treatment of a debate between the medieval Emperor Manuel II Paleologus and an “educated Persian”, including reason and faith; forced conversion; “jihad” vs. “holy war”; and the relationship between Christianity and Islam. They engage the Pope on an intellectual level concerning these crucial topics–which go well beyond the controversial quotation of the emperor–pointing out what they see as mistakes and oversimplifications in the Pope’s own remarks about Islamic belief and practice. … Read more »… À suivre »
A new Canadian television series, “Little Mosque on the Prairie” has attracted worldwide media attention since its debut on 9 January. Coverage of the show has made the pages of newspapers such as The New York Times, the Jerusalem Post and the Saudi Arabian daily newspaper, Arab News, and further afield. The series is a humorous look at the efforts of a young imam, fresh from a career as a big-city lawyer, to lead a small group of Muslims who have just persuaded the local Anglican priest to allow them to set up a mosque in the church basement. … Read more »… À suivre »
Une nouvelle série télévisée canadienne intitulée “La petite mosquée dans la prairie” attire l’attention des médias du monde entier depuis son lancement le 9 janvier. Des journaux comme The New York Times, le Jerusalem Post, le quotidien saoudien Arab News et d’autres ont parlé de la série dans leurs colonnes. Cette série suit d’un regard humoristique les efforts d’un jeune imam, fraîchement débarqué de la grande ville où il était avocat, pour mener un petit groupe de musulmans qui a réussi à convaincre un prêtre anglican de les laisser établir une mosquée dans la cave de l’église locale. … Read more »… À suivre »
Muslims in Canada today started fasting for the holy month of Ramadan. During the month, from dawn to sunset Muslims around the world abstain from food, drink and marital relations. … Read more »… À suivre »
At the the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan (Eid al-Fitr), a group of 138 Muslim religious leaders sent an open letter to the Holy Father Benedict XVI and to other Christian leaders. The letter dated October 13, 2007 was entitled: “A Common Word between Us and You.”
On November 19, Pope Benedict XVI replied to the 138 Muslim leaders with a letter signed by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, and addressed to Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal, president of the Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought and one of the signatories of the original letter.
The letter was published in English in the November 30th edition of L’Osservatore Romano. The letter is as follows: … Read more »… À suivre »
Rome (ENI). Pope Benedict XVI’s baptism of an Egyptian-born Muslim Italian journalist, known for being a strident critic of restrictions of religious freedom in Islamic countries, has been questioned by Muslim leaders in Italy.
Magdi Allam, a columnist and deputy editor of the Milan-based Corriere della Sera newspaper, was one of seven people from five countries baptised by the pontiff at the Easter Vigil Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on 22 March.
“What shocked me is the high profile the Vatican gave to the conversion,” said Yaha Sergio Pallavicini, vice president of the Religious Islamic community, one of Italy’s Muslim groups. He questioned why Allam had not been baptised in Viterbo, the city 100 kilometres north of Rome where the Egyptian-born journalist lives.
Allam was born in Cairo in 1952, and attended a Roman Catholic school in Egypt. He came as a young person to Italy, where he did his university studies, afterwards working as a journalist and writer.
Explaining his decision to seek baptism, Allam wrote in Corriere della Sera, “In my first Easter as a Christian I discovered not only Jesus, but for first time the true and One God, who is the God of faith and of reason”. He added, “beyond the … Islamic extremism and terrorism that has appeared on a global level, the root of evil is inherent in an Islam that is physiologically violent and historically conflictive.”
Italian writer Claudio Magris noted on 25 March in Corriere della Sera, “The way in which this conversion happened and his statement obviously have a political significance.”
Allam has been under special police protection for five years because of death threats. He was an enthusiastic advocate of the US-led military action against Iraq in 2003, and he has written a book in support of Israel.
An article in the international Arab Newspaper Al Quds al Arabi stated, “The Pope is provoking the indignation of Muslim by baptising a former Muslim who supports Israel and who his well known for his aversion to Islam.”
Still, Bishop Rino Fisichella, the rector of the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, said, “Allam’s choice was a very spiritual one.” Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, told journalists, “I don’t know the origin of the event, or who promoted it.” … Read more »… À suivre »
Christians and Muslims must enhance common ground and acknowledge differences, says WCC
Love for one’s neighbour is “an essential and integral part of faith in God and love of God” for both Islam and Christianity. How Christians and Muslims can engage in reflections of this love together is the central theme of a commentary issued by the World Council of Churches (WCC) on Thursday, 20 March. Compiled by Christian experts in Christian-Muslim relations, it addresses the churches and offers suggestions on responding to the widely noticed letter “A Common Word” by 138 Muslim leaders in October 2007.
The commentary entitled “Learning to explore love together” is part of on-going consultations in which the WCC has engaged its member churches and ecumenical partners since November 2007. It invites them “to explore together with Muslim fellows the love of God and the love of neighbour in their respective contexts”.
“We are encouraging our churches to consider this invitation offered by the Muslim leaders as a new opportunity for interreligious dialogue” said WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia. “It is our hope that this commentary will be a helpful tool as churches reflect on ‘A Common Word,’ and begin to engage in dialogue with the Muslim community,” he said.
The document invites the churches to reflect on the two major theological themes of “A Common Word,” love of God and love of neighbour. It points to the historical challenges and new promises of such dialogues and outlines a process for continuing dialogue among Muslim and Christian leaders. It is “a pressing necessity that while Christians and Muslims must find ways of enhancing what they hold in common, they must also find ways of acknowledging and respecting the differences between them,” the document states.
“This document signals the initiating of a process,” said Rima Barsoum, WCC program executive for Christian-Muslim Dialogue, “it calls for a joint planning group that will carefully prepare and jointly invite Muslim and Christian leaders and scholars for continuing dialogue events that will encourage interreligious cooperation at the global and local levels.
This process of response was affirmed by the Central Committee of the WCC at its meeting in February 2008, in Geneva.
• Download the document “Learning to explore love together” (pdf, 46 KB)
• “A Common Word”, a Muslim letter to Christian leaders
• More information on the WCC Programme on Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation … Read more »… À suivre »
Des musulmans s’interrogent sur le baptême d’un musulman
Rome (ENI) Le baptême par le pape Benoît XVI d’un journaliste italien musulman d’origine égyptienne – connu pour être un virulent critique des restrictions à la liberté religieuse dans les pays musulmans – suscite des interrogations de la part de responsables musulmans en Italie.
Magdi Allam, chroniqueur et rédacteur en chef adjoint du quotidien milanais Corriere della Sera, était l’une des sept personnes de cinq pays différents à avoir été baptisées par le souverain pontife pendant la messe de la veille de Pâques à la basilique Saint-Pierre, au Vatican, le 22 mars.
“Ce qui m’a choqué, c’est le tapage que le Vatican a fait autour de cette conversion”, a déclaré Yaha Sergio Pallavicini, vice-président de la Communauté religieuse islamique, une des organisations musulmanes d’Italie. Il s’est demandé pourquoi Magdi Allam n’a pas été baptisé à Viterbo, la ville située à 100 km au nord de Rome, où le journaliste d’origine égyptienne vit.
Magdi Allam est né au Caire en 1952 et a suivi sa scolarité sur les bancs d’une école catholique romaine en Egypte. Jeune homme, il est arrivé en Italie, où il a fait ses études universitaires puis travaillé en tant que journaliste et écrivain.
Expliquant sa décision de se faire baptiser, Magdi Allam a écrit dans le Corriere della Sera : “Lors de ma première fête de Pâques en tant que chrétien, j’ai découvert non seulement Jésus, mais aussi pour la première fois le véritable et unique Dieu, qui est le Dieu de la foi et de la raison”. Il a ajouté : “Au-delà de … l’extrémisme et du terrorisme islamiste qui existent au niveau mondial, les racines du mal sont inhérentes à un islam qui est physiologiquement violent et historiquement propice au conflit.”
L’écrivain italien Claudio Magris a indiqué dans l’édition du 25 mars du Corriere della Sera : “La façon dont s’est passée cette conversion et sa déclaration ont manifestement une signification politique.”
Magdi Allam est sous protection policière spéciale depuis cinq ans en raison de menaces de mort. Il a été un défenseur zélé de l’intervention militaire américaine en Irak en 2003 et il est l’auteur d’un livre dans lequel il exprime son soutien à Israël.
Selon un article paru dans le journal arabe international Al Quds al Arabi, “le pape provoque l’indignation des musulmans en baptisant un ancien musulman qui soutien Israël et qui est bien connu pour son aversion à l’égard de l’islam.”
Toutefois, l’évêque Rino Fisichella, recteur de l’Université pontificale du Latran, à Rome, a déclaré : “Le choix de Magdi Allam a été très spirituel.” Le cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, président du Conseil pontifical pour le dialogue interreligieux, a déclaré à la presse : “Je ne connais pas l’origine de cet événement et je ne sais pas qui l’a soutenu.” … Read more »… À suivre »
Read the 2015 joint statement of the Evangelical-Roman Catholic dialogue in Saskatoon, Called to Common Witness
Catholics and Evangelicals
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